OWC releases ThunderBlade external SSDs with SoftRAID and 3800 MB/s read speeds

SSDs have become almost as affordable as HDDs in the past few years, but the capacity is still on the low side. The added speed is clearly an advantage, still, without reasonably priced models coming in capacities above 2 TB, the current SSDs remain as the premier OS drives, while HDDs continue to prove themselves worthy mass storage solutions, at least for mass consumers. High-end users that create UHD content, however, can benefit from OWC’s newest ThunderBlade external SSDs with capacities up to 8 TB, which take advantage of the Thunderbolt 3 connectors and the proprietary SoftRAID tech in order to yield some of the highest read/write speeds on the market.

OWC’s new ThunderBlade external SSDs integrate the latest Silicon Motion SM2260 LDPC 3D MLC NAND NVMe drives and come in 1/2/4/8 TB capacities. Each models is said to deliver up to 2800 MB/s sequential read speeds and up to 2450 MB/s sequential write speeds. Users can also take advantage of OWC’s proprietary SoftRAID technology that allows two ThunderBlade models to act as one drive and provide increased read speeds of up to 3800 MB/s.

The ThunderBlade drives feature a rugged enclosure measuring 4.9 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches, which comes with short radiator fins that act as a passive cooling solution for the internal hardware. Additionally, there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports (one for PC connections and one for SoftRAID connections).

Prices for these high-end models are as follows:
•    1 TB – US$1,199.99
•    2 TB – US$1,749.99
•    4 TB – US$2,799.99
•    8 TB – US$4,999.99

All ThunderBlade models can now be ordered directly from the OWC site.

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